Great Ayton

Minutes of the Annual Public Meeting of Great Ayton Parish Council

held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 21st March 2007 at 7.00 pm

Business

Chairman’s welcome and report
Minutes of the 2006 Public Meeting
Matters arising from those minutes
Councillors’ attendance
Any other business

Present

Chairman’s Welcome and Report

Councillor Kirk welcomed the electors to the meeting and introduced the Councillors.  He expressed his thanks to his colleagues for their work during the year and reminded the electors that the Council met every 4 weeks, minutes of the meetings being available in the library and on the Council noticeboard and website.  Thanks were due to Mr Howard Atkinson for his sterling work in the cemetery and open spaces, and also to Mr Paul Suggitt who had the enjoyable task of keeping the river clean and clear.  Councillor Kirk also thanked the press reporter, Mr R Lappin. 

Many issues were raised reglarly at Parish Council meetings.  Some improvements had been carried out to Tree Bridge junction but the Council continued to press NYCC for further action.  The antisocial behaviour of a minority of youths had been discussed with the police and youth agencies.  There were many activities available to the youth of the village and Councillor Kirk paid compliments and thanks to the many volunteers who gave up their time to run them.  Dog fouling continued to be a problem and residents were urged to take photographs of careless owners and report them to Hambleton District Council dog warden.  The Parish Council had held a meeting with the Environment Agency, Northumbrian Water, HDC and NYCC to discuss flooding and water control.

Questions relating to caravans in the lay-by on the B1292 and at Bank Flow Farm had been raised with HDC and were still awaiting resolution.

The biennial village fete and the annual Christmas festivities had been a rip-roaring success and were a credit to all who had helped.  Councillor Kirk expressed special thanks Mr Peter Greenwell and to all who had participated.

A new path had been created in the cemetery, and the Great Ayton Parish Council website had been set up, which could be visited at www.great-ayton.org.uk.

Councillor Kirk said that it was wrong to single out individual councillors for praise but he wished particularly to thank Councillor Mrs Stevens, “patron saint” of the play area, who took all the phone calls and flack and dealt with the problems, and Councillor Bell who had taken on the difficult task of managing the allotments for a number of years.  He thanked all his fellow Councillors for their tireless work to improve the environment in the village.

Minutes

The minutes of the Annual Public Meeting held on Tuesday 29th March 2006 were approved and signed with minor amendment to “Councillors attendance” to clarify that Councillors Groves and Waters had not been in office for all 13 meetings.

Matters arising

Footpath in cemetery  Mrs Duffy said that the new path was an improvement much appreciated.

Councillors’ attendance

At the twelve meetings since the last Annual Parish Meeting Councillors’ attendance was as follows:- Councillors Kirk and Waters 12, Councillors Mrs Stevens amd Mrs Greenwell 11, Councillors Mrs Imeson, P Bell and J Fletcher 10.

Any other business

Mr  A Eardley complained that trees were growing over the footpath at the side of the cemetery, and that Yatton House was a disgrace with rubbish in the bottom of the hedges which were never cut.  He was advised to write to the manager of Yatton House.  

Mrs Pickering was concerned that rubbish was being burned at the cemetery.  She was advised that most of the rubbish was now collected by HDC.  Skips were provided for rubbish at the allotments and tenants had been warned about causing nuisance to neighbours with their fires.  The Council would revisit the issue.  She also spoke of the difficulty and danger for pedestrians crossing Guisborough Road near Langbaurgh corner.  The Parish Council would make representations to Highways, and the police would be informed of speeding traffic.  Mrs M Hopper said that cars parked outside the allotments caused problems for pedestrians and cars turning right into Langbaurgh Close.  Mrs Duffy said that it was difficult to cross the B1292 from the bus stop, and Mr McDonald said that traffic at the junction of Yarm Lane, Guisborough Road and the High Street posed real problems for pedestrians.  Councillor Kirk said that all these were dealt with by Traffic Management.  Councillor Fletcher pointed out that these were not new issues and had been addressed by the Parish Council for a long time.   Cuisborough Road was an A road and was classified as such on satnav systems.  Lorries could not be prevented from using it.  The sharp bend on the bridge had the effect of slowing traffic.  Mr Kirby asked if a traffic warden could be employed to monitor parking on yellow lines.

Mr M Petch asked what measures the Parish Council had taken to alleviate flooding.  He was advised that a local flood forum meeting had recently taken place, following which the Environment Agency was modelling the provision of a floodwater storage area.  Mr Petch favoured the removal of the self-sown alders on Low Green.  The Council pointed out that half of them had been removed and that Highways would inspect those near the footbridge at the southern end of the green which were their responsibility.  The problem of silting was regularly raised with the Environment Agency.  Mr Petch felt that the sewage system could not cope with all the new properties in the village.  Councillor Waters said that Northumbrian Water were confident that problems had been solved.  The Council had been pleased to get all the agencies together to overview water matters.

Mr B Winn complained about the Royal Mail vans parking outside the old post office.  The Parish Council had already discussed this matter with Royal Mail but would raise it again.

Mr W Kirby questioned several duplications which he had observed in the accounts.  He was advised that Health and Safety regulations required that two people had to be present when a grave was excavated; the Council had, by law, to employ both internal and external auditors; and one grass cutting contractor cut the Highways grass and another the Parish Council’s open space grass at the Riverside.

Mr Winn asked what was the current state with Tree Bridge junction.  He was advised that it was on the agenda for every meeting and there was some hope that it was being pushed further up Highways’ priority list.  Residents should report every incident at the junction to the police to ensure that an accurate picture was given.

Mr C Tanfield complained that there had been many objections from residents to the development in the grounds of Chartersmead but the Parish Council had made no observations to the Planning Department.  He was advised that the Council had to apply planning rules and regulations and could not take subjective objections into account.

Mr Winn thanked the Councillors for all the work they put in.

Councillor Kirk said that the Council could not promise outcomes but they would look at all the issues raised.  He then closed the meeting.